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Letter written by Rush P. Cady, lieutenant in the 97th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Company K, to his mother of Rome, New York, from Headquarters 97th N.Y.V. near Stafford Court House, Virginia, November 21, 1862

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Letter written by Rush P. Cady, lieutenant in the 97th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Company K, to his mother of Rome, New York, from Headquarters 97th N.Y.V. near Stafford Courthouse, Virginia, November 21, 1862

Not having had any opportunity to send the letter I wrote at Rappahannock (Rappahannock, Virginia)
, I write again now; as our Sutler is about starting for Washington (Washington, District of Columbia)
, I can send it by him. We did not leave the Rappahannock (Rappahannock, Virginia)
, till nearly night, on Tuesday; but the wagons, containing our tents & baggage went off the night be- fore, & we had to sleep on the ground,- the officers having a large “fly” to shelter them.- It rained some that day & con- siderable the next. Tuesday morning the Reg. was ordered on picket, at difft points on the Rap. River, in the vicinity of the bridge.- The rebel pickets
across the river, were in plain sight, in two or three places. Some of them came down to the opposite bank of the river, & conversed with our pickets, & threw across papers to them, by means of wrapping them around stones. They said they expected to get Richmond (Richmond, Virginia)
papers of yesterday, that day & promised to exchange. They wore the gov’t overcoats – light blue, & said they were very comfortable. A good many of their troops were quite destitute of proper clothing, & there was some suffering in consequence. Stuart (Stuart, James Ewell Brown (General)) s & Ashley (Ashley) ’s Cavalry under command of Gen. Stuart (Stuart, James Ewell Brown
(General)) , were near by there. They

PAGE IMAGE were Cavalry pickets. Pleasanton (Pleasonton, Alfred (General)) s & Bayard (Bayard, George Dashiell (General)) s Cavalry (Pleasonton's Cavalry)
(Bayarad's Cavalry) were on our side, guarding the fords along the river; two Brigades under Pleasanton (Pleasonton, Alfred (General)) & are under Bayard (Bayard, George Dashiell (General)) . Towards night, orders came to destroy the Rappahannock bridge; & fires were built on the bridge & under it, & a good many after timbers were cropped off by the Cavalrymen. Our men assisted in burning & chopping. It was a grand sight to see it burn.- It had been burned before by the U.S. troops af- ter our retreat from the Rapids, across the Rappahannock (Rappahannock River) . Finally our Brigade, then in rear of all the other troops, took up the line of march, supposing our destination to be
Fredericksburg (Fredericksburg, Virginia)
; we went about 10 miles, turning to the right atBealton Station (Bealton Station, Virginia)
& going nearly south. Having rained con- siderable during the day, the roads became very muddy, & march- ing sometimes after dark, over a terribly rough, stony, mud- dy road, was extremely fatiguing & unpleasant. Not having caught up with the wagon, we were obliged to sleep with- out tents, but fortunately the rain ceased & the weather was mild, so we experienced little inconvenience.- On Wednesday we resumed the march at 7 o’c. A.M., which seemed rather early, after breakfast, as we had not retired till 12 o’c the night before.- We marched about 14 miles, the roads being quite muddy & bad, & caught up with the wagons
in good season that afternoon, so that we had our tents that night. It rained somePAGE IMAGE during the day, & again quite hard all night, so that the roads were becoming terribly bad for marching & for artillery. But again we marched, coming about 12 miles, through mud & rain, & being rear guard of the Brigade, were nearly all day, & rather late in the evening, coming that dis- tance. It rained almost incessantly during the day & evening & the roads were perfectly horrible. Such a time none of us ever experienced before. Most often men stood up in the rain all night – around the fires – but a few of us officers put up a tent, & had a shelter, sleeping tolerably well; considering that we were wet & muddy to the thighs. Shall probably remain here
three or four days. Destination probablyAquia
Creek (Aquia Creek, Stafford County, Virginia) , then to ship by water.- Artillery has been going all night & during the day. Must close for want of time. We are well.